Decision imminent on Winooski police shooting

Nicholas Palmier, seen in this January 2009 photo while he was a Golden Gloves boxer, is the Franklin County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Jesse Beshaw on Sept. 16 in Winooski.(Photo: Free Press file)Buy Photo

Meanwhile, the state is reaffirming its decision to keep secret the body-camera recordings of the fatal shooting of Jesse Beshaw, 29, of Winooski by Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Palmier.

Release of the footage is scheduled to be addressed during a news conference on whether the shooting was justified at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the office of State's Attorney's T.J. Donovan on Cherry Street in Burlington.

Donovan and the Vermont Attorney General's Office are reviewing an investigation by the Vermont State Police into the Sept. 16 shooting that occurred near the O'Brien Community Center in Winooski.

Palmier, 31, a Winooski resident, shot and killed Beshaw as police sought to carry out an arrest warrant by Winooski police. Beshaw was wanted on suspicion of burglary and unlawful mischief.

Palmier responded to assist Winooski police after an officer saw Beshaw enter a home on Union Street. Officers said Beshaw was known to carry a gun based on recent encounters.

Palmier pursued Beshaw to the area behind the community center, where Beshaw turned and began to advance on Palmier with a hand concealed behind his back, Maj. Glenn Hall of the Vermont State Police has said. Palmier fired seven times, striking Beshaw with six rounds and grazing him with a seventh.

"On Sept. 16, Deputy Nicholas Palmier acted consistent with the law and his duties as a law enforcement officer," Nolan said last week.

Buy Photo

A body is visible lying on the pavement beyond two police cruisers on Hickok Street in Winooski following a police shooting Friday evening.(Photo: JESS ALOE/FREE PRESS)

Police have refused requests to release body-camera video of the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn affirmed Wednesday the Vermont State Police's decision to withhold the materials.

"Release of the records could reasonably be expected to compromise the integrity of the investigation, thereby interfering with enforcement proceedings," Flynn wrote in his letter denying the Free Press' appeal. Flynn could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday.

The government-transparency advocacy group New England First Amendment Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont are calling for release of the video. The Burlington Free Press is among numerous local media to have sought the footage and been denied by state officials.

Donovan said the possible release of video would be discussed at Thursday's news conference.

Palmier has been with the Franklin County Sheriff's Department since June 2015. He has been placed on administrative leave since the shooting, consistent with protocol.

Records show that Palmier was dismissed from the Winooski Police Department in 2010 and the St. Albans Police Department in 2012 before he was hired at the sheriff's department. Palmier's lawyer, Craig Nolan, said last week that St. Albans police had made a mistake in dismissing Palmier that the city later rectified by allowing Palmier to resign retroactively.